The invention refers to mechanical engineering and can be applied in pumps and hydraulic motors. Liquids and gases are used in the rotor machine as the working medium. Under the term xe2x80x9cregulationxe2x80x9d the adjustment of the machine for a certain volume of the working volume is meant Hence in case of application of the machine as a pump it is possible to change the flow rate and in case of using it as a hydraulic motorxe2x80x94to change rotation speed on the shaft. A rotor machine is known (application for European patent No 0261682 that is composed of a rotor located inside the housing. The rotor has radial slots in which slide valves are mounted arranged in such a way that they can shift radially. In radial direction the working chamber is restricted by the rotor surface and the internal peripheral surface of the housing that has elliptical cross-section. During rotation of the rotor slide valves are moved out of the rotor under the action of centrifugal forces and are pressed against the internal surface of the housing which serves as a component assigning radial mutual position of slide valves and they slide over this surface thus creating low- and high pressure zones in the working chamber.
In the axial direction the working chamber is restricted by two end members one of them being in contact with one of the rotor end and is movable in the axial direction and the second one being mounted on the other side of the rotor and rotates together with it This second end member (referred to in the said application as the member that changes the capacity of the machine) has a cavity into which a part of the rotor with slide valves in inserted. The length of the part that is not inserted into the cavity of the second end member determines the axial length of the working chamber.
By shifting the first end member movable in the axial direction the rotor can be moved into the cavity of the second end member to a greater or smaller length thus changing the length of the working chamber and accordingly its volume.
Similar machines in which slide valves move inside the rotor in radial direction are described in international application No 88/02438 and in British application No 2207953. In these machines it is also possible to change the volume of the working chamber however unlike the machine described above the volume of the working chamber is varied not by changing its axial but the radial dimension. E.g. in the machine described in British application No 2207953 slide valves mounted inside the rotor are pressed by springs to the internal profiled surface of the ring that encircles the rotor. This ring is fitted with a segment movable in radial direction and located in the zone between the inlet and outlet openings of the machine. Radial position of the segment determines the volume of the working chamber of the machine. In the rotor machine described in international application No 88/02438 the rotor is installed so that it can slide in the housing, the internal peripheral wall of which has elliptical cross-section in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The disadvantage of rotor machines with radially moving slide valves are difficulties connected with provision of tightness of the working chamber as the working chamber has surface areas with varied curvature.
The rotor machine (British Application No. 1469583) is chosen as the closest analog. This machine contains a rotor with radial slots in which slide valve moving along the rotation axis of the rotor are mounted. The working chamber of the machine is restricted in the axial direction by opposite ends of the housing and the rotor and in radial directionxe2x80x94by areas of the surface of the rotor shaft and the internal cylindrical surface of the housing located between the said ends of the rotor and the housing. A partition is installed inside the working chamber that separates the inlet and outlet openings and it is in sliding contact with the adjoining rotor end and the rotor shaft. As the rotor rotates slide valves make a complicated motion rotating together with the rotor and moving simultaneously along its axis of rotation. When slide valves are remote from the partition they enter into the working chamber out of the rotor. As the slide valves approach the partition in the process of rotation of the rotor they move gradually into the rotor and occupy such a position when they do not project over the rotor end. In this position they pass the partition without touching it when the rotor rotates.
In order to provide axial movement of slide valves special members are mounted in the rotor slots that assign axial mutual position of slide valvesxe2x80x94it is a groove cut in the internal surface of the housing with profiled surface into which slide valve edges enter. This sinusoidxe2x80x94like groove plays the role of a master cam and assigns the character of the axial movement of slide valves in slots of the rotor during its rotation.
The disadvantage of the machine described in British application No 1469583 is that the volume of the working chamber cannot be changed. As it was mentioned above the working chamber is restricted from one side by the end of the rotor that is non-movable in the axial direction and from the other side- by the end of the housing. Hence the machine of this type can be designed so as to work with maximal efficiency under definite operational conditions. When the conditions are changed such machine will work less efficiently or even unsatisfactorily.
The purpose of this invention is to develop a regulated rotor machine with reciprocating motion of slide valves along the rotation axis of the rotor which enables to extend functional capacities of rotor machines with such motion of slide valves and to avoid disadvantages typical for machines with radial motion of slide valves.
The problem is solved in the following way. The rotor machine contains the housing with inlet and outlet openings, the rotor mounted inside the housing with at least two slide valves that can move in the direction along the axis of its rotation; the working chamber restricted in the direction along the rotation axis of the rotor by its first end; the partition inside the working chamber fixed on the internal surface of the housing so that it separates the inlet and outlet openings and is in sliding contact with the said rotor end; members that assign axial mutual position of slide valves and according to the invention is provided with a regulating member which is fixed inside the housing and is free to move in the direction along the rotation axis of the rotor. The regulating member restricts the working chamber along the rotation axis from the opposite side and is connected with the members that assign the axial mutual position of slide valves. The members that assign the axial mutual position of slide valves are mounted so that they can change their position with respect to the housing with the rotor and are connected cinematically with the regulating member; the slide valves are installed so that they can change their position with respect to the rotor when the regulating member is in motion; in this case slide valves located inside the working chamber are in sliding contact with the end of the regulating member and separate the inlet opening from the outlet one. The length of axial projection of the slide valve is the distance between the rotor end to the slide valve end, moved out of the rotor into the working chamber of the machine. The change of the volume of the working chamber in the proposed rotor machine is effected due to the change of its axial length when the regulating member is moved to one or another side with respect to the rotor. Besides to balance the load on the second rotor end opposite the rotor end that faces the working chamber and to exclude the influence of the slide valve volume on the uniformity of the machine feed and its capacity the machine can be fitted with a supporting and distributing member that is fixed inside the housing and is in sliding contact with the other rotor end. Two cavities separated from each other are provided in the said end of the supporting and distributing member. One of these cavities is connected by a channel with the inlet opening and the other onexe2x80x94with the outlet opening.
In order to reduce hydraulic losses during reciprocating motion of slide valves, to reduce their weight and to balance the force of pressure acting on the slide valve end facing the working chamber and the opposite end a through opening is provided in each slide valve which begins on the slide valve end facing the working chamber and ends on the slide valve end opposite to the said slide valve end.
In order to reduce axial vibration of the rotor through channels can be made in it them that connect opposite rotor ends between two adjacent slide valves.
Like machines of other types this machine can be of multi-chamber design and have more than one partition and regulating member the number of cavities provided in the end of the supporting and distributing member being increased accordingly.